Palm-oil plantations threaten world’s most endangered elephants

Posted at 6:07 pm August 10, 2011

Tags: Zoos and Animal Sanctuaries

SHARE YOUR STORIES

Got a similar Story? Share it here

See list of businesses related to Zoos and Animal Sanctuaries

By Gregg Yan

QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – “When I say run,” instructs Osman as he sits calmly in a clearing six feet ahead, “-you run.” I nod, straining to see what the herd will do next.

We are in a primeval Bornean rainforest, sunrays filtering through the canopy to paint our world dappled shades of jade and chocolate. Five elephants stand shoulder-to-shoulder, 40 feet away. Overpowered by the wafting stench of musk, I wrinkle my nose.

Three of us are crouched behind tiny trees, trying not to make any sounds. The boat – with our more “sensible” team members – is 80 feet behind.

Our goal is to track down and photograph Borneo’s famed pygmy forest elephants, reputedly the rarest in the world. Now it seems I’m getting my wish, as a tusked seven-footer trumpets and trots ahead of the herd.

At 30 feet, the moss-covered tree I’m cowering behind seems toothpick-thin. At 20 feet, my heart pounds so hard I actually hear it thumping.

Our boatman Osman notices. “Don’t panic, just keep taking pictures!”

Threatened habitat

Only around 1,500 Borneo Pygmy Elephants remain, prompting some scientists to consider them the rarest of elephants.

Borneo’s forest elephants differ from Asian elephants, being smaller, fatter and more docile. They also have straight tusks, larger ears and tails long enough to give them a cute and comical appearance.

Males stand 8-feet tall and tip the scales at 3000 kilograms, with slightly smaller females. The largest remaining herds are concentrated around the lower Kinabatangan, which springs from the mountains of southwest Sabah and races toward the Sulu Sea.

Here thrive the oldest rainforests on Earth, formed 130 million years ago. From the ground, it is a verdant vision of ferns, vines, mosses and other plants jostling for space and sunlight – tinged by a rhythmic soundtrack of insect, bird and primate calls. Over 250 bird, 50 mammal and 20 reptile species call this home sweet home.

Sadly, up to 90% of the Kinabatangan’s forests have been cleared, mostly for African oil-palm plantations. About 20 processing mills dot the region.

Requiring just three years to become productive, these sprawling plots produce oil for soap, fuel and other commercial purposes. En route to the Kinabatangan from Sandakan City, we saw ordered rows of palm from horizon to horizon.

Elephants and other large mammals require large feeding and breeding grounds to thrive. The loss of forests due to palm-oil clearing has forced the elephants to forage for food in human settlements, leading to increased conflict and mortality.

During our visit, Osman showed me the lower jaw of a dead elephant, which he found hidden in the forest.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Malaysia has now declared the region as the ‘Kinabatangan Corridor of Life’ and protects the area by working closely with stakeholders, government agencies and local communities in activities that range from satellite tracking for elephants to setting up sustainable tree nurseries to help local communities restore degraded forests.

Test of Manhood

Still frozen behind a mossy tree with an elephant ten feet away, I no longer notice the buzzing of mosquitoes, nor the painful throbbing in my boots. The elephant gains ground.

Adios! I turn tail and bolt towards the nearest large tree – grizzled, with a drum-sized trunk. Turning back, I find Osman laughing and playing with the wild elephant. He looks at us beaming. “This one always curious … so I never say run!”

We laugh along, realizing Osman knows this 40-strong herd well. We watch them play and spar for what seems like a lifetime – but was closer to half-an-hour. I can only hope that corporations and local communities soon strike a balance between conservation and development, for I hope to someday revisit Borneo’s most famous denizens.

As we stand to leave, the tusked elephant approaches me, stopping behind some foliage. We look one another eye-to-eye, and I say goodbye.

(The author is the communications officer of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Philippines. Photo taken by Gregg Yan).